Swablu Line/RSE
hello from Silver working on their stubs again blurb goes here but I'm too lazy right now because stub Important Matchups *'Maxie/Archie (Mt. Chimney):' *'Gym #4 - Flannery (Lavaridge Town, Fire-type):' Swablu's good Special Defense make it an okay candidate to face both Slugma, if you can heal in between; you won't deal a huge lot of damage to them, so it's important to replenish your HP every now and then. It's still probably better if you use a Water-type, though, or anything that can get rid of them more swiftly; they have Sunny Day and Light Screen, which will be a problem against Torkoal's Overheat. Speaking of Torkoal, don't let your bird get a single inch closer to it, or it'll get scorched brutally. In Emerald, she also has a Numel, which she actually leads with; the same observations made for the two Slugma apply here: not too dangerous with a healing stock, but dangerous for Torkoal if it sets up. *'Gym #5 - Norman (Petalburg City, Normal-type):' Letting your Swablu fight anything Norman has in Ruby and Sapphire is a lost cause. Even Vigoroth's Slash is threatening, and Slaking can one-shot the bird with basically any move other than Faint Attack, as well as completely laugh off anything Swablu can access, including its best TM move (Ice Beam). It goes a little better in Emerald, where the lead Spinda is not really dangerous, and can be taken down fairly swiftly even by a Swablu; Linoone would also be mildly safe if it weren't for Belly Drum: NOT one-shotting it would mean giving it free setup turns, which you definitely don't want to do. *'Tabitha/Shelly (Weather Institute):' *'Rival (Route 119):' *'Gym #6 - Winona (Fortree City, Flying-type):' If you still have a Swablu at this point and you're playing Ruby or Sapphire, don't bother. Just don't. Swellow might go down to two Ice Beams, but Aerial Ace hurts, and that's her least threatening Pokémon; Pelipper is less powerful, but it takes a lot longer to beat and it's just not worth the trouble at all. Only fight her Swablu and Tropius in Emerald, and only if you have Ice Beam. If you already have an Altaria, instead, this gym will go pretty well for you: the bulk Altaria disposes of makes it easy to take down everything on her team with Dragonbreath, save for Skarmory which is better off being fought with Ice Beam, as well as the three already mentioned (Swablu, Tropius, Swellow). Her Altaria has Dragon Dance, but you'll be fine against it if you take it down swiftly enough; once again, Ice Beam is the way to do that, because Dragonbreath will probably not be fast enough, unless you have a few levels worth of advantage. *'Rival (Lilycove City):' *'Tabitha/Matt (Lilycove Hideout):' *'Gym #7 - Tate and Liza (Mossdeep City, Psychic-type):' *'Maxie and Tabitha (Mossdeep Space Center, Emerald only, Tag Battle with Steven):' *'Maxie (Seafloor Cavern in Ruby, Jagged Pass Magma Hideout in Emerald):' *'Archie (Seafloor Cavern, Sapphire and Emerald only):' *'Groudon (Cave of Origin, Ruby only):' *'Kyogre (Cave of Origin, Sapphire only):' *'Gym #8 - Juan/Wallace (Sootopolis City, Water-type):' *'Wally (Victory Road):' *'Elite Four Sidney (Ever Grande City, Dark-type):' *'Elite Four Phoebe (Ever Grande City, Ghost-type):' *'Elite Four Glacia (Ever Grande City, Ice-type):' *'Elite Four Drake (Ever Grande City, Dragon-type):' *'Champion Steven (Ever Grande City, Steel-type, Ruby/Sapphire only):' *'Champion Wallace (Ever Grande City, Water-type, Emerald only):' *'Post-Game:' Moves Swablu's initial movepool is very barren, consisting only of Growl, Astonish, Sing and either Peck or Fury Attack, depending at what level you catch it. Not the best for training purposes, but Sing is certainly useful for catching, as Swablu is capable of taking a hit from wilds and isn't all that afraid of Pokémon that aren't fully evolved. It learns Safeguard at level 21, which is probably not too useful considering Natural Cure, but you can take it over Growl if you have that, or for general team support. Mist comes at 28, but you probably won't need it much; you can just switch out if your stats are dropping. The first move that's worth of any mention is Take Down, at level 31; the recoil might turn you off from using it, but it's actually decent to train it up until evolution, which is only four levels later (meaning Swablu will be awful to raise until then). Right after evolving, at level 35, Altaria gets Dragonbreath, a good move which will also help against sturdy and tough foes, thanks to the relatively high paralysis rate; it's also the only Dragon STAB Altaria will ever learn via level-up, so hold onto it tightly. Dragon Dance comes at 40, and this is where Altaria starts becoming fairly threatening for anything that doesn't have Ice moves; you'll have Fly at this point for sure, thus you can set up against whomever you see fit and then sweep. The later moves aren't really worth mentioning; Refresh (at 45) is near-useless, especially with the ability this line has, although Perish Song might find its own niche if you're a fan of stall play, as it guarantees you'll be taking down the Pokémon you used it against - excellent last resort in challenges that are more difficult than normal, and in which you know you can't have counters for something. Sky Attack is the last move, at level 59, but the two-turn hit nature of it makes it not really worth getting, as Fly does the exact same damage. Altaria's TM movepool is fairly varied, and comprises a good few physical and special choices. Ice Beam is great for coverage, and available before Swablu even is in-game, so you can consider getting it early for training too. Flamethrower and Fire Blast are also good options, though you'll want Fly over those two later on, unless your Altaria is Modest; the type effectiveness is similar, but Fly has STAB. A Sunny Day set is also possible, since Altaria gets Solarbeam as well. Dragon Claw is the obvious choice when you get it, unless you have something better to spend it on. Physically speaking, you can teach it Aerial Ace if you're afraid of accuracy shenanigans, and Earthquake for general coverage purposes. Return is actually not a bad choice here, if you're running a Dragon Dance set. If you're not a fan of that, you can try Iron Tail or Steel Wing. Lastly, if you're a fan of killing them slowly, you have it all with Altaria: Toxic, Double Team, Perish Song by level, and the bulk needed to actually run an annoyer set. Recommended movesets: ''Dragon Dance: Dragon Dance, Earthquake, Fly, Return / Double Team'' ''Special: Dragon Claw, Ice Beam, Flamethrower, Perish Song'' Other Swablu's base stats Altaria's base stats *'What Nature do I want?' Any nature is workable; you can run a Dragon Dance set with anything that boosts Attack and/or lowers Special Attack, a special set with whichever nature does the exact opposite, and a mixed set otherwise. Since it doesn't need Speed a lot (unless, once again, you're running Dragon Dance), the best picks are probably Relaxed and Sassy, with Brave and Quiet coming up right after. *'At what point should I be evolved?' Considering that Swablu's level-up moveset is nothing short of awful, and you don't want to miss out anything Altaria can learn, you have no reason to keep it a Swablu for longer than needed. Ideally, evolution should happen around Winona, especially if you don't have other counters for her own Altaria. *'How good is the Swablu line in a Nuzlocke?' It can be underwhelming as far as damage dealt goes, but it has very few threatening enemies in this generation, and its amazing defenses make up for what is lacking on the offensive side. It's not too easy to train, but MUCH easier than any other Dragon, and for an "easy" Dragon it has remarkable power. *'Weaknesses:' Rock, Dragon (neutrality if Swablu), Ice (2x if Swablu, 4x if Altaria) *'Resistances:' Bug, Grass, Fire (neutrality if Swablu), Water (neutrality if Swablu), Fighting (neutrality if Swablu) *'Immunities:' Ground *'Neutralities:' Normal, Flying, Poison, Steel, Psychic, Dark, Electric (weakness if Swablu), Ghost (immunity if Swablu) Category:Normal-Type Category:Flying-Type Category:Dragon-Type Category:Hoenn Category:Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald